


Love Me Like It's Meant To Be - Main Route

by Seung



Series: Love Me Like It's Meant to Be [1]
Category: EXO (Band), Jisoo (Actor) - Fandom, Kim Jisoo (Actor) - Fandom, TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst, Best Friends, CEO, CEO Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love/Hate, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Otome - Freeform, Pining, alternative ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22415788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seung/pseuds/Seung
Summary: You go back to Korea with a insecure, frightened, burdened heart, but decided to make things better this time around despite having to see faces you wish to forget. Such your father’s favorite protegee Kim Junmyeon, on the other side, you can also meet your lifelong best friend Park Chanyeol and your first love Kim Jisoo.One of them sweep off your feet. Who would it be?
Relationships: Kim Jisoo (Actor)/Original Female Character(s), Kim Jisoo (actor)/Reader, Kim Jisoo (actor)/You, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Im Nayeon, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Original Female Character(s), Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Reader, Park Chanyeol/Original Female Character(s), Park Chanyeol/Reader, Park Chanyeol/You
Series: Love Me Like It's Meant to Be [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613239
Kudos: 8





	1. Main Route - Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is more or less like an otome/dating sim or yet a roleplaying game. It'll be classified her, at Ao3, as a series and is all correlated.
> 
> There's the **main route** , **junmyeon's route** , **chanyeol's route** and **kim jisoo's route** (the actor).  
>   
> The **main route** introduces the story, the others are alternative continuations in which the reader can chose which of the three they want.

It has been a stressful, but rewarding and, more than anything, bright sunny day in California, you just walked in your office after closing a contract everyone just kept saying it was impossible to get, but you knew you’d get it.

You always do and you’re sure the president of the company knew as well, why else would he appoint you directly. You never even hesitated even when most of the others said it’d be the end for you once you lost it. ‘ _ This is where her career ends’ _ , or so they said to each other along the corridors as you passed by.

_ ‘It’s a good day’ _ \- you think to yourself with a smile as you set yourself on reviewing a stack of papers for the next project. It’s the same as the other, but it was certainly another big fish to catch and you have intention to do so. Knocks on the door makes you look up to see a familiar pair of eyes peeking at you from the corridor.

“So, how’s the  _ woman of the hour _ doing today?”, you offer him a half-smile, arching an eyebrow as you lean back on your chair watching the man lets himself in.

“Oh, so now I’m not out of my head?” You ask playfully, he clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively

“I knew you’d get it all along”, he replies faking an all-knowing tone

“Oh, sure”, you feign disbelief, “Your father believed in me more than you, I honestly thought he would cut me off right in the beginning”

“Honestly, the old man has a blind faith in you by now”, he confesses, “He’s probably having a drink as celebration in his office by now”, he says, pointing at the ceiling, “Which reminds me-”, he sits up straight in excitement, “I already set up your celebration, at seven, the usual place”

“All on you, I imagine”

He sighs dramatically.“What wouldn’t I do for you?”

Whatever you’d say next is cut by knocks on the door, your friend turns on his seat to see your secretary walking in.

“Ms. Cho, Mr. Greene. The president wishes to see you”, she announces

“Thank you, Liz”, you say as you stand up, seeing your “guest” throw himself back on his seat with an annoyed expression, “I reviewed these already”, you hand her the stack of papers you’ve been looking over just a moment ago, “Put them in a folder and bring them to the president’s office, I’d like to submit to him personally since Mr. Greene will be there”

“Yes, Ms. Cho”, you hear your friend, co-worker and often a guest in your office speak up again

“Seriously, every time I hear this I remember high school. I was not made for this life. It doesn’t help that you keep pushing more of these to me of all people”, you walk around your desk

“C’mon, you’re the best at these”,you nudge his shoulder when you’re close enough

“I should be in Paris with my boyfriend right now.”

“I thought you broke up with him”, he grimaces at your reminder as he stands up

“I could get another one. I could be a sugar daddy”, he says under his break only for you to hear before the two of you walk out of the office, you secretary walking ahead, “No feelings involved, no heartbreaks~”, he considers almost dreamingly

“Or~ you could try something  _ different _ ”, you suggest

“Like what you have with playboy number twelve? Not for me”

“You’ve been counting?”, you asked with some edge of curiosity, but not quite

“Not really, but I might be either too short on it or a playboy or two too early”, he replied like the smartass you know he is, you roll your eyes playfully 

“No feelings, no heartbreaks~ Remember?”, You mimic his statement mockingly, he shakes his head in aversion, but you’ve been avoiding these things for a long while now.

“No love~”, he adds in a sing-song tone

“It’s not like we don’t care or don’t like each other, tho”

“Yeah, still nope”, you chuckle as he sighs dramatically sighs again, “What can I do? I’m a hopeless romantic! I’m doomed”, he admitted and you chuckled at his dramatic self-loathing

The conversation stops as the two of you walk into more people and soon it’s not even remembered as the two of you walk into the president’s office. It  _ was _ a good day until then.

∘∘∘

You took a deep breath and ignored how your friend looked carefully at you, waiting.

“I apologize, sir. But I’d appreciate if you reconsidered-”

“I’ve watched you closely as you carve your way here all by yourself since you were in high school, Y/n. The reason why I scouted you in the first place wasn’t because you’ve been friends of my son all this time, but because of the potential you have”, the old man’s eyes are defying you in taking a step back as you haven’t done in years, he takes a moment to push some papers resting on his deck towards you, you know that’s the so-called impossible contract, “I believe this contract is what I needed to make this decision”

“Dad, this is not the problem. You know Y/n doesn’t want to go back to Korea-”

“Not now, Dean”, the old man snaps, but his voice doesn’t alter from the business tone, “Y/n, listen to me”, he warns in a soothing tone, “I understand this might be a big decision, but the company needs you in South Korea, you’re young, intelligent and talented. Going from director to chairwoman of a company branch overseas-”, he stops, watching you closely, “This is what they call golden ticket. Wasn’t this offer you were waiting all this time?”

“You’re right, Mr. Greene, I apologize”, you say respectfully, “May I have some time to think about it?” He presses his lips together and nods, leaning back on his seat with a resolute manner, you know those are bad news

“I’ll make the same question tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to see the decisive, brave and prideful person I’ve seen until now. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’d have to let you go”

You leave the office with your heart under your feet, you can already feel the tell-tale of a headache approaching, but you refuse to give in. There’s quite a lot to do for the rest of the day. Your friend is by your side, you practically had to drag him out of the office with you at some point because he was ready to argue with his father over this matter and, to you, everything is settled.

You could understand Mr. Greene, he was a businessman, you’re supposed to be a businesswoman as well and deal with this professionally as you’ve done all this time, but… When you think about South Korea you think about going back to being that same person who was worthless and could never do anything right. Maybe you’re different now, maybe not, you’re not quite sure. You don’t quite understand how your self-esteem and self-confidence could just disappear the moment you thought about dealing with those past issues again. You’re not a teenager anymore.

“Hey~”, your head snap up to look at your friend sitting across from you in your office, he breathes out and leans closer, “Maybe you should take the rest of the day-”

“I have to work”, you reply automatically

“I swear, Y/n. If you leave, I’ll leave too”

“Stop saying nonsense~”, you half-whine

“I’m serious, dad knows you-”

“He’s right, Dean”, you interrupt him, “I’d do the same thing in his place and  _ you _ would to and you shouldn’t be like this because I’m your friend. When you take his place you’ll know it’s not hard”

“I’m still a director. If you’re named as a chairwoman of a branch company, then you’re closer than me of taking his place”

“Stop saying nonsense~”, you scold him

Although you say it like that, by your own experience you know Dean is right. Being the next in line doesn’t naturally means one will actually succeed in being the next to heir the company and Mr. Greene reminds you vividly of your father. Which is quite interesting since you never had much of a good relationship with you own parents while Dean parents are exactly the opposite.

∘∘∘

_ ‘This isn’t how your day was supposed to end’ _ \- you think to yourself as you smile and pretend to enjoy the celebratory party with those people you so fallaciously call friends for no other reason but social convenience’s sake. 

Everything’s a blur. You recall the pair of arms wrapped around you as you tried to enjoy the illusion of it, but you couldn’t find it in you to do so and you wonder if it was a bad idea. This isn’t the type of distraction you need.

You should be making a decision. All this blatant self-confidence, this pride and smug you’ve been portraying, they’re nothing but a joke. you decided to use it as soon as you were sent overseas because you were tired of not being enough, of being compared to someone else.

Being alone isn’t easy and it’s not about your family, you became accustomed to be nothing but a ghost to your father and not having anyone else to call family. But, here you didn’t have your childhood best friend Chanyeol to support you and encourage you, you didn’t have  _ any _ of your friends really, your real friends different from what you gathered here. Dean indulges you and is closer than those people, but you traced limits. How else would you build trust again after being discarded by both your parents, one at a time. Your father was worse, he put someone in your place and  _ you watched it happening. _

Honestly, only the mere thought of…  _ Kim Junmyeon _ \- Argh! Just the thought alone makes you wanna twitch your lips in distaste, he’s the root of all your problems, because although you wish with all your might to avoid it, you know it’d be impossible and you rather come to terms with it and face the facts already. If you gonna do this, then better do it right.


	2. Main Route - Chapter 01

It’s late,  _ really  _ late when you stumble home again, it’s not that you’re drunk. Okay, maybe just a little. But because you’re tired and overwhelmed with all those feelings, and thoughts, and memories you can’t get rid of.

You keep wavering, taking steps back and forth, waltzing around a decision as waves of different emotions comes and goes. Will you regret it? If you accept it, that is? All you’d need is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, plain and simple. But it’s hard as hell and it drives a little over the edge every time. The temptation of the position offered is nowhere near enough. 

You’re so used to this routine you barely think as you go through it. Taking off your shoes by the front door - that’s a habit you never got rid of, not at home, at least. Throwing your coat and bag on the same armchair before letting yourself slide down to the floor, between the couch and the coffee table where your laptop is waiting for you. 

You barely notice what you’re up to until the face of your best friends shows up on your screen.

“Y/n”, Chanyeol greets you with a smile.

You’re relieved to see him, all of sudden is like half of the burden you were carrying just  _ fades away _ , it doesn’t matter if he’s on the other side of the world, seeing him on your screen makes you feel like you’re home.

“Hi!~” You greet him with a smile, “Hey, you’re not busy, are you?” You ask, frowning a little as you notice the sweat dripping off his hair onto his face. You assume to be coal tainting his skin. 

You watch him panting and choosing a place to sit down, you try to watch him more closely and he tries to maintain his smile while seemingly recovering for whatever kind of excessive physical work that had him panting.

You’re don’t quite believe when he replies, humming an affirmation and nodding quite cutely. You try to, but something seems off about this. For a while now you’ve noticed Chanyeol looking skinnier, although he tries his best not to show you, he’s always with a worn out complexion and it gets worse every time, but he never really talks about it. 

“Are you volunteering? Did you commit any crimes these days?” 

“How did you know?”, despite his playful antics you notice a hint of self-detriment in the added chuckle. “How about you?”

“What about me?”

“You’re drunk, Y/n”, you lean back on the couch, pulling your leg closer to your chest. He tilts his head like a puppy. “Did something happen?”

You’d say something, but you hear someone screaming calling for him and you try your best to look for the person, but the camera doesn’t show.

_ “Park Chanyeol! What are you doing?”  _ You hear the person annoyed tone and see part of the guy’s body by his side, dressed as casually as Chanyeol, his clothes also beaten up and dirty.

_ “I’m going, just a moment.” _

_ “Who is it? Your girlfriend?”  _ The other asks and the screen turns back.

“No, just a friend. I’ll be there in a minute”, he asks

_ “But, we have to get back to work” _ , the other replies and you see Chanyeol’s annoyed expression attempting an apologetic smile, “Sorry, that guy  _ hyung _ is really annoying.”

“Work?” You ask, confused, “Yeol, what’s going on?” You ask, worried.

“Volunteering is work, Y/n”, something seems off about the way his smile falters,“We weren’t supposed to make a pause now, it might rain. That’s why.” He explains dismissively.

“Do you have to go now, then?”

“Not really, we can talk some more”, he shifts in place, looking somewhere around him, “So, what’s wrong?”

“Oh”, you bite your lip

“What?” He asks, worriedly

“I got that contract.” You manage a weak smile.

“Is that a “but” or a “however”?” He asks all-knowingly.

“It’s-,” you lick you lips, looking away, you don’t feel all that drunk now, “Mr. Greene,” you try again and glance at the screen to see Chanyeol paying close attention. “He wants me to be the representative of the company overseas.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Chanyeol asks carefully.

“In Seoul, Chan.” You explains tiredly, “I’d be entitled as the chairwoman of the company branch- in Seoul”, you feel like crying now, the tears blur your vision and you blink them away, “I- How can I go back?”

Just like this your mind is once again filled with those unwelcoming thoughts, but there’s something different now. Because Chanyeol’s there it’s not anywhere as bad, you don’t feel alone anymore. You don’t know how much time passed, but you can hear him calling your name again.

“He’s not wrong.” You start again, in your own desperation, “I know I have to look at my career before these personal matters and all, but the problem is-,” you hesitate, “ What would I do with myself? I feel like I’ll be just as pathetic and worthless and wouldn’t be able to afford to be this way.”

“Y/n”, Chanyeol tries calling your name soothingly as you ramble on with all the pent out desperation that has been eating you up all this time.

“Being the chairwoman of the branch company, I can’t be like that.” You can’t seem to stop yourself, “What I fail at it? What if I put everything to lose and ruin everything?”

Chanyeol could never be more frustrated, he’s not there with you, to help you through this. He calls your name again. 

“Hey, hey, Y/n”, he calls you softly, “Easy there. Alright? Take a breath. Slowly.” You do as he says, taking in a few deep breaths, closing your eyes, “Feeling better?”

“Yes”, you mutter loud enough for him to hear.

“Just breath. Okay?” You nod. You’re not sure if it’s the alcohol or your anxiety-driven state… or both that is make you dizzy and lightheaded.“Slowly, Y/n” Chanyeol warns you, “Breath in. Breathe out. Slowly.”

You do as he says and he just watches you.

“I don’t know what to do.” You confesses.

Chanyeol’s eyes seems to be focused on the screen, on you instead of the camera now. Worried and anxious about you.

“I feel like, as soon as I step in that airport I’ll turn into that junior high schooler again”, you see him smiling weakly.

“Y/n, you shouldn’t let yourself think this way. Look who you are now, what you’ve done with that contract. Things are different now, everything you accomplished.” He says confidently, “All of it is real! I’m sure Mr. Cho knows better than comparing you to Junmyeon now. He has no reason for that now”

“Of course,” You chuckle bitterly, “He already has what he wanted. His protegee instead of his daughter. What a sweet deal.”

Chanyeol hesitates, he talked you about this quite a lot in the past and this doesn’t seem like a good time to insist on it.

“He called again today. Junmyeon, I mean.” You shake your head in disbelief, “He says it’s an emergency, but I’m sure he and dad can deal with whatever it is by themselves.” You look down, biting on your lip. “I don’t want to go back to that.”

“Y/n, I can’t tell you what to do. But, one think you should know”, you look at Chanyeol, “I’ll be here for you if you decide to come. You won’t be alone. I promise.”

You didn’t realize that’s what you’ve been scared of the whole time. Going back to the place you’ve been sent away from and- being alone because they wouldn’t want you there. Despite seeing who you became.

“Also-”, Chanyeol smiles to you, “I’m sure that if you tell that your boss is not dumb. If you say that you’re leaving and taking that contract. He’ll  _ beg _ on his knees for you to come back before you reach the door”, his energetic input makes you laugh and he smiles at you, “Trust me. Hey, don’t laugh, I’m being serious here”

“He’s one stubborn old man”

“Yeah, but he’s not dumb”

“True” You shrug

“So?”

“So, what?”, you ask him

“Just–”, he starts again and licks his lips seemingly nervous now, “So- just in case, you decide to come back. I really mean it, Y/n. I miss you and I’ll be here.” 

There’s  _ something  _ different in his voice..

“I just-”, you lick your lips and bites on the inside of your cheek, “I just don’t want to be a coward anymore.”

“You’re not a coward~ Stop saying that! It’ll bring bad luck”, he complains, you chuckle.

You sigh, relieved. 

“Thank you, Channie”, he beams at you, “You know I really miss you too, right?” You scoot closer to the laptop, placing on your chin on your knee while still hugging your leg.

He doesn’t reply, or say anything else for that matter, just smiles back at you with something that reminds you distance in his eyes, as if he’s looking at you on the screen, but not quite.

“What?”

His eyes snap to look at the camera, then at the scream. “ _ What? _ ”

“Are you sleepy? Did I bore you that much?” You ask playfully, he laughs at you

“That’s not it”, he looks away then, giving his attention to something else on his phone. “I’m sorry. I gotta go now, I’d say I’d call you later, but you should sleep a little. Take a cold shower”

“A big day tomorrow~”, you breathe out, “For better or for worse.”

“Yah! You’ll be winning either way. Trust me”, he reassures you with a confident nod

“Call me whenever you can tomorrow”

“Okay. Good night. Sleep well~”

“Good night”, you reply, “Be careful, don’t strain yourself”

“I won’t”, he waves at the camera with a smile and you do the same in reply as the call ends. 

You stare at the laptop screen for a moment before closing. Chanyeol is right, Mr. Greene isn’t even part of the equation, in the end it’s all up to you and you can’t run away forever. Also, you really do miss your best friend and you’re worried about him. You can’t shake off the feeling telling you there  _ is  _ something wrong.

As the drowsiness of being sleepy takes over your body as you stand on your balcony, hugging yourself to get some warmth because you left your coat inside.

A bittersweet tug on the corner of your lips as you enjoy the view in front of you. You take in a deep breath, enjoying the fresh cool breeze fill your lungs and maybe it’s just you, but there’s something different about it. It smells of a new thrill, of fear and a new beginning, you wonder where this is going to lead and you allow yourself to drink in the long avoided thread of shrinking uncertainty and fear of falling, afraid of failing. But now, you’re not feeling so alone.


	3. Main Route - Chapter 02

_ “Channie~ are you really alright?”  _

Your voice echoes around you, you don’t feel like you said them yourself. You’re worried about him. It’s not that you’re not used to seeing Chanyeol in casual attires,  _ you know  _ he has a favoritism for hoodies, he’d work in those if he could. Which is the complete opposite of  _ Mr. Nuisance _ .

You never saw a kid who seemed to be in love with suit and dress shirts, and uniforms and everything always been so cut clean and…  _ no,  _ you don’t wanna think about Junmyeon right now. Especially because, although you also  _ try _ to see his face, you just can’t, you don’t know how he looks like now. It’s been over ten years, right?

‘Whoa~ time went by fast’ -  _ you think to yourself and you sigh in your slumber, unnoticeably slipping into sleep. You think about Chanyeol’s tired expression again, you can see him so clear before you now, his skin is tainted with something, you think it’s coal. _

_ He’s panting and seemed to have lost more weight since that last conversation about you going back to Korea. He shows you an apologetic smile and there’s a sadness in his eyes that makes you feel guilty. _

_ “Why didn’t you just tell me you were having a hard time here? I’m your best friend, I’ d come back if I had to!” You try grabbing his jacket, but can’t seem to reach him, he shakes his head and steps back, “Chanyeol! Why?” You cry out. _

∘∘∘

Everything vanishes and you’re alone. Or maybe not… You can feel your body surrounded by the comfortable and much welcome warmth of your bed and covers.

_ You’re half-awake, but drifting off to sleep again because you’re too sleepy and have no idea whatsoever of what would have awake you, that is until you hear the intrusive and annoying sound of knocks on your door and you could care less if they are polite, right now it’s the most irritating thing in the world and you hope it’d just stop.  _

_ There’s a moment when you think that might happen, something less than a second, right before everything becomes much worse. _

_ “Miss Cho?” _

_ You hear the familiar voice of the maid and pull your fluffy, thick covers over your head, trying to muffle the sound as much as you can in hopes you’ll go back to sleep despite the irritation that is attempting to build up. You try avoiding irritating thoughts that bubble up in your head, curses, revenge plans, angry speeches and anything you can come up with with amidst you anger for being awakened. _

_ “Ms. Cho, please, wake up,“ you hear the maid again, “You’ll be late for school,"the maid adds as if you don’t already know, but you could care less about it. You just want to stay in bed and sleep.  _

_ There’s other knocks on the door,“Ms. Cho?” You hear again and you take a deep breath, chanting for the woman to just  _ go away.  _ The knocks persist, “Ms. Cho, young master Kim is waiting for you already” _

_ You wonder why the stuck up, goody-two-shoes-nuisance doesn’t leave already? Why does he have to make your life so hard? Also, if he left could he just  _ stay there _ or, at least, away from your sight? Because all you want to do is strangle him to death every time you see him. That arrogant snob. _

_ “Ms. Cho-” _

_ It’s a pleasant morning, but you’re too pissed at everything and everyone to enjoy it. You glare at Mr. Nuisance sitting at the other side of the table as you eat, he’s always so composed and neat, and, seriously, what middle schooler likes to read the newspaper in the morning, during breakfast?  _

_ He’s a different species of freak or is he a robot? You ask yourself watching Junmyeon’s every single mannerism, always proper and polite although there’s only you and him there… Aside the maid, but then again, she’s the maid, so why? From head to toe there’s never a single thing out of place in Mr. Nuisance, not a single hair or thread in his clothes. _

_ “Something wrong?,” he asks and you blink to focus on whatever he wants from you _

_ “Huh?” _

_ “We should probably go,” he says, putting down his chopsticks and you can’t help but notice how even when he’s being absent minded he’s still  _ him, you  _ shake your head to stop thinking about it because it just makes you dislike him even more and you’re already too pissed at, “We’re already late for school and I heard Chanyeol’s waiting for us” _

_ It makes you remember that he’s late as well and you smile at the secret pleasure that comes from the fact that  _ thanks to you _ he can’t be all that perfect. The stupid idiot. _

_ “I’ll go after I eat, why don’t you just walk by yourself? Use dad’s driver, I’m sure he’ll let you.” _

_ “We can’t use your father’s driver and even if we could, Mr. Cho left early to work.” _

_ “Ya! Why do you call dad Mr. Cho, though? Aren’t you his son?” You provoke in a dumbfounded irritation, then immediately feel bothered by your own words.  _

_ That’s not how it’s supposed to sound, you wanted to tell him to just call your dad comfortably. Even your dad says the same, but Mr. Nuisance here is just too much of an idiot, apparently. It’s not like he  _ works _ for your family or anything _

_ “He’s not my father,” he replies simply, too calm and collected for a kid his age _

_ You feel worse, but even more so irritated because why couldn’t the always eloquent Kim Junmyeon only be able to say this and make things awkward for the both of you? Why does he makes you feel like crying? It’s bright early morning!  _

_ But now you can’t even taste the food because there’s a very foreign feeling of losing the ability to taste anything, you feel like everything inside you is hollow, You can’t eat if your stomach isn’t there. This is how a dead person, a zombie would feel right? Feels like something weird brushes your skin, like one of those times when you and your friends play around with socks on the carpet, but it’s not fun. Not fun at all. _

_ A sigh leaves your parted lips and you tsk. “You’re a weird kid, I’ll never know why dad likes you better,“ you say as you stand up to leave, “Let’s just go already.” _

_ Junmyeon leaves the table after you and you hear the maid wishing him a ‘good day’. What now? Even the maid prefers him? This world is just unfair. You’re glad when Chanyeol sits next to you in the car and fastens the seatbelt. _

_ “What? Are you in a bad mood today?” He asks, sitting comfortably and you hum inevitably cute, “What happened?” _

_ “I had to wake up early,” you reply vaguely. _

_ “Y/n~,“ you hear as soon as you walk towards the school gate and your friends come to greet you, those kids from the same neighborhood as you, people you grew up with. _

_ “You were waiting for me?” You ask, locking arms with one of the girls. Somewhere in the back of your thoughts you wonder why you can’t look at their faces, why everything seems so blurry when you look at them sometimes. _

_ You know you’re talking, smiling and laughing, some part of you knows everything is feeling a little too surreal, but there’s a part of you that is waiting for the inevitable and you wonder what it is. This feeling of knowing something’s gonna happen. _

_ Some clicks their tongue.“Him again,” you look at what one of your friends is pointing to, “I wonder how does he manage to stay in a school like this,“ the boy comments, “Isn’t this too expensive for him?” _

_ You watch as another boy is scolded in front of whoever passes by the PE teacher. _

_ “Oh, do I know it,” someone else comments snarkingly, “He’s from my class, does nothing. Always failing at whatever- a lost case” _

_ “I heard he’s an orphan.” You wonder what’s wrong about being an orphan. Mr. Nuisance is an orphan, but aside being a stuck up goody-two-shoes snob, he’s not a bad person. That doesn’t mean you like him, though. He’s still a complete unnecessary nuisance in your life. _

_ “But,“ someone else adds, “Even if he’s an orphan, why is he like this? Isn’t Kim Junmyeon an orphan too? Right, Y/n?” _

_ “Eh?” It’s all you manage to say before someone else speaks up in annoyance _

_ “Isn’t Junmyeon the top student? He even won awards for our school. He’s good looking and he’s nice-,” you agree Mr. Nuisance isn’t a bad person, but that’s going too far, or so you think, “A-Ah, right! But, he’s not all that perfect,“ you hear them saying all of a sudden _

_ “Ah, no! His mother sells snacks in front of the institute I have extra-classes at” _

_ “His father?” _

_ You see the person shrug. _

_ “I heard he ran away or is in jail… Something like that” _

“Jail?,”  _ the girls asks, startled _

_ “That’s what I heard,“ the boy shrugs and you get tired of all this gossip, you could care less about the boy’s background or if he isn’t the top student. None of you are all that great anyway, why bother talking bad about him? _

_ “What are you gonna do?” You hear Chanyeol ask beside you _

_ “You’ll see” _

_ “Y/n, the teacher’s there,” he reasons, “You’ll get in trouble~” _

_ “I don’t care,“ you pout _

_ And despite his words, Chanyeol follows you and you can hear what the teacher says. _

_ “-do you even care about your grades or your scholarship? Do you know how much your mother begged for it? Do you know how much she went through for this? You’re different from these other kids, you should work harder. If there’s something wrong at home or something like that… just focus on studying” _

_ “Morning!” You greet your teacher, “Are you picking on students this early in the morning?” _

_ “Y/n, you’re late again, right? Because of you Junmyeon is always late too, his schedule is all messed up, you should be more considerate, you know he’s our school representative,” the man starts nagging, “You too, Park Chanyeol, get yourself together! The three of you should think about what are you gonna do to get into high school” _

_ “It’s not like our grades are all that bad,“ Chanyeol says and you agree. _

_ “It’s not that great either,” the teacher says, “The three of you should go to class. Quick! I’m losing my time with these kids” _

_ You watch the man walk away before glancing at Jisoo. _

_ “Hey! Don’t mind the old teacher Han, he’s old and likes to nag at people, even other teachers,“ you smile at the boy, “Jisoo, right?” You tilt your head when he looks away, “I’m Y/n,” you extend your hand for him to shake, but he walks away. _

_ You see him again that day, you and your friends would always sit together at this particular nice spot at school to eat the lunches, like having a picnic, but for now, you’re just picking on others’ food because you forgot to take yours.  _

_ Junmyeon said he has it, so he’s bringing it to you. All you can do is take bites from Chanyeol’s and you’re busy eating one of what just got from him when Jisoo happens to pass by, walking towards a place everyone knows some students use to escape school. There was a girl following him desperately this time. _

_ “Here she goes again~,“ you hear someone says _

_ Jisoo stops abruptly and turns around, the cute girl following him almost crashes against him. _

_ “Im Na Yeon! Are you stupid?,” Jisoo barked and you humphed, “Stop following me. Please.” She pouts _

_ “All right,“ she replied, looking down and kicking the floor, “But at least take this” _

_ Jisoo looks at the girl extending the lunchbox to him and crosses his arms. _

_ “No, if I do this you’ll keep following me when I tell you not to, so just go away” _

_ “I’m saying I won’t!” She insists _

_ “I said no!” _

_ “Y/n, your lunch,” you look up to see Junmyeon giving you a lunchbox, but it doesn’t look like yours. _

_ “This is mine?” _

_ “Yes,“ he nods, “The maid packet in a different lunchbox this time. _

_ “You think I don’t know this is yours. Forget it, I’ll eat with Chanyeol instead” _

_ “Junmyeon!” You hear someone call him, one of your friends, “Sit with us too” _

_ “I can’t, I have to handle some papers to the homeroom teacher now” _

_ You look away to see Jisoo and the girl again. _

_ “I told you already~ I don’t need it! Just eat yourself~” _

_ “But,” she hiccups, “I have mine and you haven’t eaten anything yet,” she says with a cute pout adorning her feature, even as a girl you can’t say Nayeon isn’t cute and too pretty, Jisoo must see it too, “Jisoo-oppa, do you know how pale you look right now? Why did you have to do that?” She whines a little in sadness _

_ Jisoo’s eyes shots around as if he’s worried a secret might escape, “Why do you care? Worry about yourself!“ He says with contained and embarrassed anger, “Eat both, I don’t care!” _

_ “Alright!” _

_ The girls sits down on the bench near Jisoo, tears open the lunchbox and starts to eat, munching in a sad angriness the food in front of Jisoo. Her tears start falling and she lowers her head, munching on the food. _

_ “How can he be like that to Nayeon?” Someone gossips, “Totally a bad boy.” _

_ To you, Jisoo seems lost as he watches Nayeon in front of him, he gapes and tries to say something, but no sound comes out. Someone sighs by your side and suddenly you see Junmyeon walking from toward them. He says something only for Jisoo to hear, but the other boy doesn’t seem like he heard whatever it was. _

_ “Hey,” Junmyeon starts carefully and you can hear since you’re closer now, you don’t know why, “Don’t do it. That’s enough, you can stop now”. _

_ Junmyeon hand reach to stop her and Nayeon looks up slowly at him with eyes full of tears left to cry while more of them stream down her face. She stops. _

_ “But,“ she panted, voice strained from her silent cry and full of food, “Jisoo said-” _

_ “He didn’t mean it like that,” Junmyeon confined and offered a smile. _

_ In your eyes, if Jisoo was born a bad boy, Junmyeon was a total playboy. Just looking at him makes you cringe _

_ “No,“ the insists stubbornly and sniffs after swallowing the food that made her cheeks puff, “I woke up early to make this, I had to pester my older sister for this,” she whines _

_ “Ah, okay. I understand,“ Junmyeon nods, looking at the amount of food left, “Then, would I be rude if I asked you to share with me?” _

_ If you weren’t dying of cringeness, now you might just. _

_ “Yah, Junmyeon~ You’re the worst-” _

_ “No!” the girl Nayeon interrupts you, “It’s okay, if you haven’t eaten yet, I mean” _

‘Geez’ _ \- it’s all you think, rolling your eyes as you see Junmyeon shake his head, smiling at the girl. You don’t know when Jisoo went away, but you see him in a distance, walking to the back of the school. You know people usually went there to skip school and classes, but that’d be with friends and Jisoo’s alone. _

_ “Y/n, don’t follow him~,“ you hear your friend telling you as you leave them _

_ “Does she like him too?” Another says as if they’re judging you for it. But, no, you don’t. _

_ “What are you doing?” You ask curiously and Jisoo stops in front of a wall with his back turned to you. Sheltered by the shadows of the trees that surrounds him; you tilt your head, seeing him lean his head back and sigh. _

“YAH! Im Na Yeon!”  _ he snaps, “Didn’t I tell you-,“ he stops when he finally turns and sees you instead of Nayeon. You raise your eyebrows, not because you’re startled, but because  _ he  _ is. _

_ “I’m not Nayeon, though. I told you, I’m Y/n,” he clears his throat and looks away, he seems kind of embarrassed to you, “Nayeon’s pretty, she’s the face of our school. Why you don’t like her?” _

_ “I’m not suitable for her,“ he mumbles his words trying to seem cool all the while. _

_ “But, you like her?” You indulge him with a smile _

_ “No, I know where I belong and I don’t get you rich kids,” somehow you feel offended by this and crosses your arms, “None of you realize how different you are from others.” _

_ “Why does Nayeon have to be the one to suffer for that?” _

_ “She just keeps following me, that’s why,“ he suddenly stops, “She-” _

_ “Ah, don’t worry. She’ll be fine, Mr. Nuisance is taking care of it for you,” you pat his arm playfully. _

_ “You mean Junmyeon?” You nod an affirmation, he hesitates, “You- You won’t follow me too, right?” You shrug, “Don’t!” Jisoo warns you, still somewhat startled, probably by your stubborn nature. _

_ “Are you gonna skip school?” You ask, “Alone?” _

_ “You can’t come.” _

_ “I know, I won’t~ Here, I don’t care if you’ll really eat it or throw it away,“ you point out. “Just- Take  _ this _ with you, alright?” _

_ Ignoring his confused and slightly irritated expression and you try shoving one of those bread Chanyeol likes to buy in those cafeteria machines in Jisoo’s hand. But he closes his hand in a fist the moment you attempt to do it, trying to avoid. _

_ “I said I don’t want it,” his eyes are trained on you sharply _

_ “So, you just want to hold my hand like this?” Jisoo gets startled when he notices he accidentally ended up holding your hand tightly in his. _

_ “I-I didn’t do it on purpose,“ he stutters, flustered, pulling his hand away. Jisoo changes the weight on his feet, fidgeting on his spot before yanking the bread from your hand, “I’ll take this, so just leave me alone,” he says as if it’s a warning, holding the bread up, “Don’t follow me” _

_ “I know,” you reply in annoyance in a half-hearted whine, “I won’t” _

_ “Don’t tell to Teacher Han” _

_ “Yah! Kim Jisoo! What do you think I am?” _

_ He glares at you who’s standing in front of you with an offended expression, His eyes searched for something on your expression until his eyes met yours and your expression softened a little, his did too and something changed on his posture, it took him a moment to take a harsh breathe in, tensing his whole body, you frowned  _ thinking  _ you might have seen a tint of pink on his cheeks before he abruptly turned around towards the wall to climb his way out of the school grounds. _

_ “Ah, wait-,“ he stops abruptly _

_ “What?” He asks, annoyed, “What now?” _

_ “Me and my friends are going to meet later. It’s not everyone, but we’re planning on having some fun,” you explain, “It’s not some  _ rich kid _ weird stuff, so don’t worry. Just- Just join us. We’ll go to that karaoke place near that new entertainment agency’s building. You know where it is, right?” He doesn’t reply, “We’ll be there right after school~,“ you suggest, trying to any reply from him, but he just leaves and you humph in annoyance. _

_ You should go back now, Chanyeol must be looking for you, you think. Things around you get too bright and blurry and the school’s bell rings. Huh? That’s weird. The school doesn’t really plays a bell but rather a very familiar song. _

You stir in bed and groan, turning away from the sunlight and for a moment there you think you’ll hear knocks on the door waking you up so annoyingly, but there’s a bittersweet feeling to it, you miss it. The sound of you phone’s alarm slowly becomes louder and more noticeable, still on a state of sleepiness you taunt your hand over your bed until you reach the bedside table a pull your phone to you to turn off the alarm. 


	4. Main Route - Chapter 03

Lying awake in bed, you take a deep breathe and it’s as if everything in you is welcoming what’s to come. The memory of a middle school Chanyeol in uniform, his adorable smile and funny antics makes you smile even now. Remembrance of Jisoo, makes you feel like you did back then, the memories of him.

As you go through your usual morning routine, the feeling of longing for something, so bittersweet and nostalgic, leaves you as the dream seems to vanish from your mind, somehow, that bothers a little. You wish that feeling would stay a little bit longer, you wish you could remember what you dreamed about. 

You feel like you forgot about something.‘ _ Was it about Chanyeol?’ _ \- you ask yourself as you walk to your car,  _ ‘I’m sure there was  _ something  _ about Chanyeol’  _ \- you reassure yourself, looking for the images in your mind. But, then again, you also dreamed about a youngster Junmyeon reading newspaper on the breakfast table. Just ridiculous.

“Why did I have to dream about him too?” You ask yourself with a groan, maneuvering the car ouf of the parking lot.

You may call it a dream, but that was a memory. One you kind of left aside ever since you moved from Seoul. Except from Chanyeol you don’t know about anyone else you cared about back then, you smile as you recall how Jisoo appeared that evening, all flustered and hesitant.  _ ‘Going back to Korea might just be a good thing, won’t it?’ _ , you consider. 

You didn’t think about any of these named people you cared about so much back then and it’s funny how you could only recall their faces in the dream, everyone else’s was blurry or you didn’t bother looking at them. They were like the first you have here, just for show. You just didn’t really know this back then.

You chuckle when you wonder how you well you seem to remember your old teacher Han’s face. The man was really annoying, but looking back now you know, in his own way he cared about everyone too much, even other teachers. When you moved away you managed to distance yourself from everyone but Chanyeol, he stayed around no matter what.

Junmyeon, the nuisance…  _ Him! _ Seriously, why did your dream had to include him? You keep asking yourself, what part of  _ Mr. Nuisance  _ you ever cared about? Maybe back then you did care about him somewhat, you naive self, that is, before he was given everything that supposed to be yours and you were discarded… Because you were never anywhere near enough.

You can’t quite tell if you ever cared about Junmyeon, but if you say you don’t it feels like a lie. Where is the place somewhere in between caring for someone? Or is there even a place aside from it? Is it good or bad? You never even thought about something like this really, you were never really inbetween with someone, you either liked someone or you didn’t.

Like how you liked Jisoo for no reason, not in a romantic way at first, but still- you liked the boy that rejected everyone but seemed to be having a hard time by himself, that’s until you started to bother him to stay around you. 

∘∘∘

People look at you rather differently today, they’re probably speculating, they might not know any details, but they surely know you were called in the president’s office the day before. Some of them look at you trying to make up their minds.

“Good morning, Ms. Cho,“ your secretary greets you as you step in your department.

“Morning, Liz,” you greet normally, “Anything for me?”

“Director Greene has the papers for a project and he’d like so you in his office,“ you nod, “Also, there was a call from a Mr. Junmyeon Kim just a while ago”

“Junmyeon again? So early in the morning.” You shake your head. “What did he say today?” You ask without caring much about it.

“I told him what you instructed me to and he said it is an urgent matter that needs your attention”, she pauses hesitantly.

“What?” You stop looking at her.

“He asked me to tell you to stop being stubborn. You can’t avoid family forever.”

“Oh, right?” You chuckle.

You pull yourself closer to your desk and documents, concluding that, whatever it might be the reason why he called again after so long, you’d probably find out when you arrive in Korea. You’ll have to meet your family at some point and that includes Mr. Nuisance himself. You feel that, whatever it is, it can wait until you’re in Korea and ready to face him and your father.

Busying yourself with your usual workload, you don’t notice the time passing and you at some point in the afternoon you have to rush to one of you appointments. A team’s presentation. Then there are some other to-dos to attend to. You wait until you’re called in Mr. Greene’s office, but Liz tells you he won’t be available for the day, but sent you something. You look the folder that has big, red, bold letters that spell out “RESTRICTED” front and back and you frown. The folder is properly sealed and you make sure you’re left alone to see what’s inside.

There’s a note, trusting you’d understand that although he doesn’t mean to rush your decision, he trusts you judgement in such matter. A few contracts he’d like to arrange with a Korean selected companies as soon as his branch company is settled in the country, hopefully, with you ahead of it.

You wouldn’t mind any of it if you didn’t promptly recognized the name of one of the companies at first glance. Even if the logo has been changed, your father’s company name is still the same. You wonder if it was his or the Mr. Nuisance’s decision to change the logo.

You’re decided to be as impartial as you can about this decision. Your father’s- Better yet, C&H Company was one of those you considered a possible yes. This would mean you’d have to deal with them. If you said yes to it. You feel trapped.

Was this what Junmyeon has been wanting to talk to you about? As far as you remember he’s not the type to be desperate to close a contract by appealing to personal matters. He could’ve changed, who knows.

∘∘∘

You spend the rest of your time analysing those papers and you can’t deny that you spend a little more time at the C&H Company’s proposal. You just can’t help yourself. There are no flaws, so weak points, it excels the others. Junmyeon’s name is on it and you smirk at it the first time you read it. So, he’s the second in command there, isn’t he? Just a year older than you, though.

When you glance at the time on your phone, there's nothing better to do than wrap it up for the day. You take the folder home with you and during all the way you keep glancing at it, on your car’s seat. You don’t want to let this affect you, before this you were optimistic even. Now, you’re swaying again. It’s all you can think about all the way. Waltzing around your decision again. Why does such a nuisance makes you hesitate like this?

You park your car, glad to be getting home. Today there’s no party, no gatherings, no dinners with corporatives. You don’t feel like cooking, but you don’t want to sleep just yet. Your mind is too active. You step out of the elevator, fishing your keys from your bag. But what you see in the corridor makes you stop in your tracks.

You look at the guy sitting next to your apartment’s door as if he’s been waiting there since forever, you frown, confused.

_ “Chanyeol?” _

Chanyeol look up, blinking his eyes open. You’re confused and happy, all at the same time. You look at him, wearing an open hoodie over a simple white shirt. The clear image of the boy next door you remember.

“Y/n!” He smiles

“Oh my God! Chanyeol!”

He looks like a lost puppy, looking up at you like that and it doesn’t change much when he jump to his feet and you rush to hug him tightly. Not being able to smile twice as much as you remember smiling a so long when he hugs you just as warmly.

“Wha-” You stutter as you pull away to take a good look at him, not quite believing in your eyes, “What are you- Oh my God!” You cup his face, “You feel skinny”

“Yah! What kind of- Why do you have to say this like a grandma?” He whine, pulling his face away.

You step back with a light pout, unlocking the door.

“Shouldn’t you ask if I’ve been exercising or something?” He asks sounding sulky and offended and you push the door open, pausing a moment only to look back at him just to see he looks exactly how he sounds.

“Well,  _ have you been exercising? _ ”

“No!” He scoffs. You roll your eyes and walk in the apartment. “This is  _ not  _ the reception I was hoping for”, he complains, walking in after you.

You turn to look at him as he closes the door and you walk backwards.

“You should consider yourself very lucky that I’m not scolding you for not visiting me for over one year, mister Park Chanyeol.”

In a quick reflex, Chanyeol reaches out to grab your arm and pull you towards him just when you stumble back on your heels. It might be really dumb, but just you’ve realize how tall he is now, you kind of forgot about it.

Chanyeol breathes out carefully, holding close to him with an arm around you. It takes him a second too long to realize he’s been holding you too close and he pulls away.

“You~ Don’t go around falling like this!” It’s a very off-beat scolding and you just chuckle at it, pulling yourself away, “You missed me this much, huh? Making me save you right after seeing me again.”

“Don’t flatter yourself!” You say, pointing at him as a playfully warning before using the wall as leverage to take off your heels as he takes off his shoes. “But~”, you start as you kick your heels aside before walking to the living room, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Oh, I-”, he’s been took excited and completely forgot about it, his growling stomach speaks up for him. You hum trying to hold back a laugh.

“Alright. I’ll order something”, you fish your phone inside your bag as you manage to take off your jacket and, as usual, throw both of them on that same armchair nearby.

“That’s not healthy, you know?” You look at what he’s ponting and see the folder you just threw on the armchair along with everything else.

“If you’re coming home this late, you shouldn’t bring work along.”

“I’m not gonna work on it, just couldn’t leave it at the office.” You say dismissively. “What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know,” he says thoughtfully as you stand in the middle of the room dazely staring at the options given by the app you’re browsing through.

Chanyeol feels comfortable and at home enough to let himself fall on your couch, relieved for finally being able to rest his tired body. You sit down next to him once you sort out your options.

“Look,” you show him the other, “This is your favorite, right?”

“Oh, add this too,” he points at the screen as you lean back on the couch, closer to him, doing as he asks.

“Okay. I have drinks here, so I’ll leave those out.”

“But there’s a discount~” You look tilt your head up to look up at him and his eyes meet yours when he looks at you.

“Since when do you care about discounts?”

Chanyeol falters and he his eyes look back and forth between you and nowhere in particular.

“Just saying.” He shrugs and you look back at the screen.

“How about desert?” You suggest, but he’s looking at you now and misses the timing to reply and you don’t seem to mind. Choosing something yourself. “It’ll take some time to get here.” You say, turning off you phone’s screen and placing it aside.

You look up at Chanyeol again. He’s looking at you, lost in his own thoughts. You take some time to look at him then. You said it before and he dismissed your comment, but you really think he looks…  _ different. _ He doesn’t look unhealthy, just- would the word be  _ tired? _ Or perhaps a longer sentence like  _ it seems like he’s been carrying too much weight on his shoulder _ suit better what you see?

You’re not quite sure and Chanyeol doesn’t seem at all kin to talk about it and you’re not willing to just force it out of him. He’ll come around and tell you because since when he keeps big secrets from you anyway. What could possibly have happened this past year that could change him so much?.

“Chanyeol?”

Slowly you feel his eyes looking at  _ you _ , the  _ you _ that in front of him without astraying to an abstraction. You smile.

“If you’re tired you should just rest, y’know,” You tell him and watch as he takes in a deep breath and if he had just woken up, “I can wake you up when the food’s here”

“No, it’s okay. I haven’t been aboard for a while, that’s all.” You hold back from questioning his blatant half-lie that comes out along the unnecessary explaining.

“Then… Why?”

“What?”

“I can tell you came in the first flight here, Channie”, you expose him and he looks away, “Or something like that”, you pay close attention to him.

“I was worried-”, he confesses, “I know what this decision means to you and I told you could your best friend’s shoulder to lean on while you were at it. I told you, Y/n. You’re not alone whether you decide to go back to Korea or to stay here.  _ Aand-  _ I felt guilty for not coming for  _ over an year _ ”, he playfully mocks you at his last sentence.

“Hmm”, you purse your lips, looking away and nodding to yourself, “Guilty should be number one in your list. You broke a promise, y’know.”

You accusation isn’t heavy, you can see it in his eyes how guilt he so lightly mentioned felt heavy and it makes you feel bad for the joke. To tell the truth, you’re quite overwhelmed. Happy, yes. Very much, in fact, but overwhelmed for having Chanyeol with you now. It’s comforting but you can’t say it didn’t caught you off guard.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do this anymore.”

His tone was light as he messed up your hair, but meaningful nonetheless and you played along, pushing him away as a mocking punishment before smoothing you hair that is now falling on your eyes.

“You better not!” You scold him, playfully poking his arm, there’s a pause, only a breathing in and out moment before you speak up again, “But, you know…” You say with a smile as you push yourself up, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Chanyeol smiles back at you.

“I’m gonna wash up before eating, you can use the guest bathroom if you want. I have spare clothes.”, you look at the sport’s bag he brought along, the luggage choice quite odd to you, “You’re not leaving tomorrow, are you?”

You ask with a frown, tying up your hair.

“Well, if you kick me out, then I won’t have a choice.”

“Don’t be stupid~. You should know where your room is. I’m not treating as a guest here.”

“I know. I know.” He replies in fake annoyance.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

You leave for your room with a smile playing on your lips. It’s good to have Chanyeol with you now, all the agony you felt just dissipated and you don’t feel abandoned. You didn’t even realize before that’s the word for the feeling that has been eating you up all this time.

With your back turned to him, you don’t see Chanyeol’s eyes going for the folder on your armchair again. The red, bold “RESTRICTED” written on it partly visible from under your jacket. Biting on the inside of his cheek he pulls his phone from his open hoodie pocket and leans forward as he makes a call. His eyes wander to the way you just went.

“It’s me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter the series will proceed with the routes (alternative stories), those being: Junmyeon (Suho), Chanyeol and Kim Jisoo (Actor).

**Author's Note:**

> The story and concept was created by [@alt-stories](http://alt-stories.tumblr.com/) and we'll be working on it together from Main Route - Chapter 03 onwards.
> 
> Find me [@fictionalarsonist](fictionalarsonist.tumblr.com)


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